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Yeah, the accents in central and southern Ohio have some southern characteristics. There are some differences between these Ohio accents and those in the South, which you can pick up if you're really familiar with accents from both the South and the southern half of Ohio, but I can see how accents from much of Ohio would sound southern if you weren't really familiar with the subtle differences. I'm guessing that Ohio accents LovinDecatur finds to have a neutral sound are spoken by people from northern or western Ohio. The accents there sound more typically Midwestern. Try to hear Neil Armstrong in your mind's ear (". . . one small step for [a] man . . ."). He's from a town in western Ohio. His accent is typical for that area.
I know nothing about the linguistic history between the coasts, so this is purely speculation. If someone really knows about the subject, it would be interesting to get some info on this. What I'm speculating is that the Midwest along with much of the West was all the frontier at one time or another. The people seeking something new migrated west from many or all sections of the old regions now known as the Northeast and the South. This gave the Midwest and West a mix of older American accents. As a result, Midwestern and Western accents effectively averaged out the more distinctive older accents. The blending of accents from various regions gives these accents a familiar sound to Americans from every region, which leads to the sense that these accents are neutral, even though they are actually distinctive accents in their own right. Just a theory.
Another thought on the toned down accents in suburbs: I think that affluence, at least a moderate degree of affluence, may make an area more likely to have less of the local or regional accent than you would find in less affluent areas. There will be individual exceptions, but generally people are more likely to move for professional jobs than minimum-wage jobs at Wal-Mart. You're more likely to have a mix of people from various regions in white-collar suburbs than in working class areas. For this reason, you're likely to find less of a Noo Yohwk accent in Westchester County, even if that accent may be readily apparent in many of NYC's Long Island suburbs.
I notice this phenomenon to a great degree in the Boston area, where I live. In most of the middle-class and wealthy suburbs there are no more than hints of any classic Bahstin accent, often not even hints. The same is true in the central part of the city, near downtown. Most sections in the central part of Boston are on the upscale side. There is a very white-collar crowd on the streets in those areas. Again, little or no classic local accent. Presumably this is because of the number of transplants who have moved there for professional employment. In many older neighborhoods in Boston's outlying residential sections, and in many close-in suburbs with an urban character, there is a significant blue-collar population. Not so large a portion of the population is employed in jobs people are inclined to relocate in order to find. Many of the people there are from families that date back a number of generations in the local area. The old Bahstin accent is alive and well in many of these areas.
Anyways, New AHHlins and MinneesOHta definitely don't have neutral accents. I would say the Northwest in general, Inland California and the western Rust Belt (Detroit, Cleveland, Indy) fit the bill the most.
I've been, in spirit...Rocky was set in Philadelphia was it not? lol
I'm not from philly. I believe rocky's accent was the non-rhotic south philly which is heavily italian-american, maybe majority then. philly and bmore are the only eastern seaboard (or east coast(incl se)?) to have rhotic accents.
as far as baltimorese goes, some would say it barely resembles english lol.
it seems that the difference between baltimorese and standard english is pretty glaring.
lol anyone else agree that the baltimore accent is pretty easy to distinguish fro a general american accent?
Do you have any audio of the true Baltimore accent? I really did hear a lady on our local radio from Baltimore speak and she sounded like someone from North NJ saying Baltimore (I can't spell out what I heard but it wasn't that Bawlmer sound that everyone talks about). I have heard people from Baltimore speak in real life and they must have worked to get rid of there accent because I just haven't heard it.
Do you have any audio of the true Baltimore accent? I really did hear a lady on our local radio from Baltimore speak and she sounded like someone from North NJ saying Baltimore (I can't spell out what I heard but it wasn't that Bawlmer sound that everyone talks about). I have heard people from Baltimore speak in real life and they must have worked to get rid of there accent because I just haven't heard it.
Keith Mills:
Former Sportscaster Keith Mills Speaks Out To WJZ - wjz.com (http://wjz.com/seenon/Keith.Mills.Pain.2.422342.html - broken link)
former MD gov Bob Ehrlich grew up in a SW bmore area burb called Arbutus
I'm being honest here and I don't think I'm saying anything that's false but the way these Baltimore guys pronounce certain words (horrible, saturday, Washington, etc) are no different than what I heard up in East TN, Southwest VA, North Carolina, and Southeast KY (all were Appalachian areas). I am convinced that the people from BMore I met were hiding their accent. It's different and unique to me.
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